Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Well, voting for the Hoot! Show has come and gone. I thought it STARTED on the 11th and went through til the closing of the show, but it was just on the 11th. Oh well. If you haven't guessed I didn't win.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Seems like no one's posted in ages! Who's fault is that? Let's get 'em!

Oh. . . it's my fault? Oops. Sorry.

Fact is, lately, when I've had the time to write, I've not really had much crafty to say and when things have been super crafty, as they have of late, I haven't had the time to write. Plus, how many times can you read about me making log pillows?

So what have I been up to? Well, I did a play. Urinetown: the musical, where I played the part of Penelope Pennywise AND did all the costumes!Here's a small taste:And one with me!That's me in the brown with the Wellies. Very glamorous, no? If you click on the above pics you can see even more shots from the show. It was very fun and so great to stretch my costuming muscles once again. Oooh, here's a great glamour shot:Hawt.

Other than the show, I'm getting ready for Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. It's my first time at Renegade Chicago and I'm so excited to do the show in it's hometown. What's even more exciting, though, is that I'll be sharing my booth with my Zombie Cross Stitch co-author Kristy Kizzee! We've never actually met in person but I already feel like she's long lost family.

This is also my first time in Chicago so if anyone has any suggestions regarding food, drink, and fun. Please let me know. And if you're in Chicago, please come and say, "hi!" We'll be selling autographed copies of the Zombie Kit and I have lots of new things I'm working on especially for this most Renegade of craft fairs.

ALSO! I've done a piece for Renegade Handmade's upcoming HOOT group show and contest. Here's a sneak peek:And his owl-y backside:The show starts in a week and voting for the contest begins September 11. Winner gets a free booth at their choice of Renegades! Yea!

Okay, dusting done, now, back to work. I'll let you know how it all goes soon.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Well, Maker Faire is less than 2 weeks away and I've got sooooo much to do before I head up to lovely San Mateo. Still, I can't leave you hanging, now, can I? Here's a few more snaps of the latest items to come out of my chaotic craft room.

A gaggle of Sasquatch have joined the Yetis.

And to make use of all the cool coffee mugs I find while thrifting. . . The Coffee Klatch Pin CushionMore details from the top:Yea!

Finally! My printing story. I was making gifts and had to hold off on this post since a few of the recipients of said gifts occasionally visit this blog. Of course, those gifts were given out well over a month ago but thing have been busy with friends weddings and trips to Utah and Disneyland and everything. Anyway. . . on with the printing story!

When we last met I had just finished my first successful screen and was starting on my second. Like I said, the second time was a lot smoother but no where near as user-friendly and the more traditional method I already know.

Once my screens were burned and dried, I got to printing. Luckily I was forewarned about the fact that the screens shift around a lot during printing so I used the packing tape used to block off the edges of the screen to tape the screen into the machine. I then prepared my platen for my fabric.

Ah, the platen. . . the thing that holds your work in place as you print. It should be sticky but not too sticky. You should be able to remove the printed material without distorting or tearing it. Apparently the Yudu folks didn't get that memo because this thing was so sticky that I couldn't even remove the piece of wax paper I'd put down as a guide!

So annoying and frustrating. Most of my print time was spent trying to de-tacky the platen. Did they not even DO any product testing? Apparently they sell extra adhesive sheets for the platen ($7.99 for 2 cha-ching!) so you can have it way too sticky and fabric distorting all the time. Yea.

Here's the distorted fabric after printing and removal:It took a lot of steam and stretching to reshape the fabric after printing.

So, the platen sucks. But still, we soldier on. Printing! As you can see the print on the white fabric is crisp and clear, but it took several passes to get it that way. I've only had that happen in a traditional set up when using a super porous fabric like felt. With a smooth cotton (like the one I used on this project) it should really only take one pass, but still it's a nice print.

My biggest gripe is the mess. One of the many reasons I wanted the Yudu is that I liked the idea that I could use it indoors and that it seemed rather mess-free for screenprinting. But this is SO not the case. Now, I must admit, I did not use the Yudu ink. Maybe that would make a difference but I doubt it. The ink went everywhere as I printed and there was no easy way to scoop up the ink for re-use after a pull of the squeegee. As for the squeegee, there's no place to put it when you're not using it! When I print in my garage, I can rest the squeegee in the screen frame when I lift the frame up to remove the printed work. On the Yudu, this is not possible. When I tried to rest it there it would fall into the ink or worse off of the machine getting ink all over the place. I finally had to lay out some plastic along the side of my work area so that I could put the squeegee there when not in use.

Messy. Notice the ink all over the machine.

The next thing I printed with the machine didn't go much better. I decided to print opaque white on red cotton flannel. Even though I was using a super opaque ink I was still unable to get a crisp opaque print from the Yudu no matter how many times I pulled the squeegee. Ultimately I just touched up the white by hand. Really, Yudu, what's the point?

I was still able to use the fabric I printed for my final project and it still turned out really nice. See. . .But I feel the Yudu was more hindrance than help and that I could have finished the printing a lot faster and better with my low-fi garage set-up.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

So this past Christmas I got a Yudu machine. Yea! Right? I must admit, as soon as they came out I was intrigued. Would it be like a great big Gocco? An easy way to print shirts, fabric, and whatever my little heart can imagine? According to the press and the hype it was all those things and more! Too fun!

At first I tried to use what little pull I had in the craft world to get a free machine to try. I knew other crafty bloggers and friends had been sent machines and at the time I was writing for CraftStylish and Yudu's parent company Provo Craft was one of our main sponsors. They did send machines but I wasn't one of the chosen bloggers. Oh well. I then though I had an in through the Boyfriend and a few connections made at last year's Maker Faire, but alas no free Yudu for me. Sigh. I'd given up all hope but then Santa (aka my Mom and a Joann Fabric coupon and my Dad and his $$$) plopped one under my tree.

First thought. . . DAMN this things big.Sooooo much bigger than my little ol' Gocco, yet still not big enough to replace the traditional screenprinting set-up I need to print fabric for logs and such. After Christmas morning it sat on my dinning table for about a month unused. Sadly, I rarely have time for hobby crafting anymore.

So it sat unused for about a month until I finally had a project. Yea! I couldn't wait to get started! Which leads me to my second thought - supplies, especially emulsion sheets are hard to find and expensive. I used to think that one of the main draws would be how easy it would be to find supplies since they carry them at Michael's and Joanns. With my traditional printing set-up I have to order everything since there are no suppliers in my town. Yudu offered the prospect of easy to come by supplies and spur of the moment projects, but my local Joann doesn't have a full craft section and the Michael's is always sold out. I was hoping the Yudu would mean I wouldn't have to wait for packages to ship but alas, I had to order all the necessary materials to get started.

I finally got all my supplies last week and got ready to print. First thing I did was watch the DVD that came with the machine so that I would have a good idea what to do. Big mistake. What a useless piece of crap it is. The "how-to" features 2 people a woman who is the expert and a Bubba-like yokel who's there for "comic relief" but who only serves to bother and annoy. I suppose what the Provo craft people were going for was a "Look, even this dolt can use the Yudu! So can you!" Sort of thing but the true effect is frustrating and not at all helpful. After the epic fail that was the DVD I looked to the quick start guide for help. Alas, no help was to be found there either. The machine doesn't come with a complete how-to manual booklet but the quick guide makes assumptions they shouldn't about info that's not provided. Such as which is the front and which is the back of the screen. Since I have some printing history I was able to figure it out but the average crafter might mistake the smoother more finished looking back for the front. Luckily the videos and tutorials on the website are more helpful and informative but I find it very annoying that I have to keep my laptop by my side to figure out a crafting tool.

After watching a few of the online tutorials (featuring a very informative expert and no one trying to audition for the next Blue Collar Comedy Tour) I finally got started. The instructions seemed simple enough. Wet the screen place the film, flatten the film, dry for 15 to 20 minutes. So I wet the screen but apparently not enough since the film wasn't really sticking so I added more water. I smoothed it out with a damp paper towel and my squeegee and put it in the dryer. 15 minutes passed and it was not dry so I put it in for another 15 minutes, still not dry. Ultimately it was in there for an hour. After the hour I removed the screen from the dryer and went to remove the protective plastic film. Apparently it was still not dry 'cause this happened:So off I went to the sink to wash $10 of emulsion sheet down the drain and try again. The second time went much better but still took over an hour to dry fully in the machine's self-contained dryer.

Second attempt after the screen was burned:Success!!!

Now I'm working on the second screen for my project. The prep went soooo much better now that I know what I'm doing but it's still taking forever to dry. I think Evie from "Out of This World" must work for Provo Craft 'cause the only way these screens take only 20 minutes to dry is if they have someone working for them who can stop time.

I'll post about the printing later but I guess my biggest gripe about the Yudu, beyond their awful how-to material and time underestimations, is the cost. Yes it is less messy than how I prepare my more traditional screens but they're soooo much more expensive. The screens are comparable, about $20 per screen but everything else seems like such a rip-off. The emulsion I use for my regular printing is $30 a container and each container contains at least 30 screens worth (if not more). On the other hand Yudu emulsion sheets are $19 for 2 (though I have found them online at $15 for 2). The ink is $7.50 for a 3 oz bottle! 16 oz jars of my favorite printing ink, Versatex, can be found for 'round $10. On the Yudu website they say that you shouldn't use other inks because they will ruin your screen, but I suspect that it has more to do with Provo craft making money and less to do with which inks work best.

And that's what gets me. It's all so greedy. "Be creative! Express yourself! But only use our product." I set up my traditional, if slightly low-fi, printing set-up for about $350-400 but that includes 6 screens, 4 gallon jars of ink, squeegee, emulsion, and print station. They say the Yudu is fit to use out of the box. I suppose it is. But you only get 2 emulsion sheets (and I've yet to talk to a person who didn't mess up the first time), one screen, and a small tube of black ink so what you're able to make is very, very limited. For the project I'm working on I had to buy 2 more screens, more emulsion sheets (2 packs), ink (not Yudu, sorry, not falling for your trick, Provo), registration sheets, screen cleaner, screen filler, and better squeegees all for a grand total of $125 not including shipping. Provo may have picked my pocket this time but I'm already figuring out hacks. When I figure them out, I'll share them with you.

That's all for now. I'm sure the rant will continue tomorrow when the real printing happens.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday. Been having many a frustrating internet problem these days. Anyway. . . onto the news!

It's been so long since I've been here. All the way back in November!?! What the!?!?

Okay, so let's go back a bit to Christmas. If you visit here with any regularity (you're one up on me! kidding.) you are aware of my obsession with new show displays come craft fair season, so of course I had to come up with something new for the holidays. It also had to fit in my new Cube (yea!) and needed to stay clear of the windows for a long drive to Portland, OR in crummy weather. So this is what I came up with:A giant wreath! Everything flat-packed down to fit in the car, yet looked remarkable when up on the table. I was by far the most festive seller at all my fairs. I just love the Christmas decorations!

Moving on from Christmas, my time has been spent working on writing and contributions. I wrote the text a papercraft craft book and kit. When I'm allowed to, I'll post more info and pictures and links and such. I've also been lucky enough to contribute to the books of 2 really fabulous friends. Here's a sneak peak at one of those projects:Purdy! If I do say so myself.

Other than Christmas and books and such, I've been making logs. Lots and lots and lots of logs. Soooooooooo many logs. And more logs to make too. Sigh. Logs.

Oh! And I made another quilt!It's for my friend Kat who has a little one on the way. I love making crib quilts, they're so much easier to put together. I haven't really mastered quilting larger pieces yet. I've had a few successes but for the most part even the successful pieces were more frustrating than fun. I love the final product but have always wanted to abandon every large quilt I've ever made along the way. Baby quilts make me feel like the greatest quilter in the world!

Guess that's all for now, better get back to the logs. We'll talk soon.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Been busy and have let things slide. Sorry. I have pictures to post and things to tell but I'm out of town right now. Upon my return on Tuesday all the boyfriend and Erika news that's fit to print will be printed right here!